by Chris Billowsin Trade0 commentstags: Crporations Don't Think
Last week I had a discussion with a colleague who commented to me that corporations are bad things since he watched the documentary ‘Corporation’. Now, I have not watched the show, but I can tell you that the impression it left on my colleague is unfortunate and wrong. I told him that Corporations are simply publicly sanctioned methods of organizing ourselves. They are not inherently good or evil, but simply allow us to pool our capital (sweat, monetary, and intellectual) to more easily work together to accomplish great things. A cutting knife allows us to prepare food but used in the wrong hands it can be a deadly weapon. The same with a corporation. A corporation has no mind of its own. It is recognized as a legal entity but that does not mean it can think for itself. That is why it needs Directors and Officers. It is these people that make the good or bad decisions and should be held accountable when things go wrong. To paint all corporations as evil institutions is ignorant. We don’t charge and punish the knife or gun used in a crime. We go after the criminal. It is time for the anti-corporate […]

by Chris Billowsin Play0 comments
Abandonware is the distribution of computer games and other software that is no longer sold or supported, or whose ownership may be unclear for various reasons (company closed or merged). In the beginning of the World Wide Web, there was a debate that considered Abandonware the same as piracy. In my opinion, Abandonware is a good thing and I believe it is possible to come out firmly in favor of Abandonware but totally against Piracy. First of all, Abandonware is illegal. According to copyright legislation, a copy of any creative work requires the consent of the creator or owner. Abandonware goes against these laws by distributing computer games that for the most part no consent was given. Participating in abandonware is to break copyright laws. The problem is that people confuse software Piracy with Abandonware. Piracy is automatically illegal because the distribution of the software is done without the consent of the creator or owner. Just because both are illegal does not mean they are the same thing. It all comes down to intention of the lawbreaker and who is the the target or victim of the crime. What are the intentions of an Abandoneer (my definition of a person […]

by Chris Billowsin Trade0 commentstags: How to Understand Money
What is your relationship with money? Do you believe that the more money you have the more happier you will be? Or is money the root of all evil? Chances are you see money as a tool. It is a means to an end. Money is no different than any other human invention, it can be used for good and bad and your relationship with it will determine how it is used. My principles about relationship with money management are: Money is a tool. Like any tool, skill is required to use it effectively. Money skills are refined through experience and knowledge. When used effectively, money will make your life easier and enjoyable. In future blogs, the Monenterprise topics will focus on basic skills that you can learn to make money work for you. You will learn that money has two sides: Consumption and Creation. One will get you into trouble and the other will liberate you. Stay tuned.

by Chris Billowsin Think (Speculation)0 commentstags: Defining Life, Quotations
About two years ago after reading a number of different books about personality and archetypes, I got thinking about how personality relates to life. I thought that by defining the different terms it would be possible to figure it out. What I ended up with was a ‘definition stanza’ that became more interconnected as I refined it. LIFE is a teaching machine. ATTITUDE is the mental range of behaviors that are chosen in reaction to what Life teaches. It directly affects Intelligence. INTELLIGENCE is the capacity for understanding and remembering what Life teaches. It directly affects Experience. EXPERIENCE is the capacity to successfully and unsuccessfully test what Life teaches. It directly affects Perception. PERCEPTION is the capacity to see and understand deeper meaning in what Life teaches. It directly affects Behavior. BEHAVIOR is the performance of physical, verbal, and mental actions. It directly affects Skills. SKILLS are technical Behaviors reinforced through Experience. It directly affects Knowledge. KNOWLEDGE is the capacity to organize Skills & Experience into concepts to share with others. TALENT is the capacity to organize Skills & Perception into displays of brilliance. JUDGMENT is a type of Talent & Knowledge that understands what Life teaches. INSIGHT is Judgment […]

by Chris Billowsin Play0 commentstags: Comprehensive Analysis
Some review systems use a 100 point system (like on Metacritic) or a grade point system, but nothing captures the simplicity and visual acuity as the five star system. The 100 point system is far too nit-picky. How does one justify why a book deserves a 74 instead of a 78. The grade point system reeks of academia. Hopefully, each of the ten stages of the BilLOGs Five-Star Rating System is found to be distinct enough to tell you something about my perception of the quality of the item.The BilLOGs Five-Star-Rating System is based on the following questions: 1) What is the product about? What is its genre? Who is it meant appeal to? What is it attempting to do? 2) Does it deliver? What is the quality of its delivery? Did it engage? Was it entertaining? 3) What is its impact on the medium or even on society? Is its reach so universal that it is cross-generational and/or cross-cultural? Something that answers all of these questions with excellence would get a five-star rating. Something that cannot accomplish the first question would get a zero-star rating. The ten different ratings are: 0 stars – An effort that is basically incomplete […]

by Chris Billowsin Think0 commentstags: Human History, Meta History, Western Ascendance
Why does the West have a more materialistic wealth than the rest of the world? Why did the West influence every continent and people on this planet instead of the other way around? In Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond presents the biologist’s answer: Ecology, particularly geography, fauna, animal availability, and climate. Diamond almost seems to say that human choice and desire had little to contribute but he does explain its relative importance near the end of this 480 page book. Diamond reviews human history on every continent since the Ice Age in a style that emphasizes only the broadest movements of peoples and ideas. He does not talk about linear progression of human history but about the handful of critical factors that pivotly change the trajectory of history for certain societies. Diamond writes that “History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples’ environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves.” The people who domesticated plants and animals early got a head start on developing agriculture and an immunity to deadly germs. He demonstrates how this leads to the development of government, writing, and technology. Diamond further argues that human ingenuity is simply the result […]

by Chris Billowsin Play0 comments
Being an avid fan of fiction in its fantasy and futuristic forms as found in books, movies, and games, I have found lots of fiction which is generic and formulaic. Its a problem because I find myself buying products because of its imagery and presentation and not because of its quality. I have spent lots of money supporting products that really were not worth the price or my time and I suspect that many others have been fooled like me. Fantasy and futuristic fiction is difficult to write, shoot, and program because the editing that ensures that everything is plausible needs lots of revision and rethinking. One of the best examples of this is the 1898 book and 2005 movie of War of the Worlds. Why would a vastly superior technological alien race have spent so much effort and resources into studying and invading a planet which was biologically hostile to them? War of the Worlds (2005) had world-class acting, directing, and special effects combined with a rich mythology thanks to a hundred plus year prior release of the book. Yet, Spielberg did not answer the most obvious question: Why would these aliens who had prepared to take over the […]

by Chris Billowsin Play0 commentstags: Games Analysis
One of my favorite pastimes is computer & video gaming. I have been an avid gamer since 1977. I vividly remember getting my first home Pong system and soon after getting the Atari VCS. I also frequented the local arcade and eventually came to enjoy the more complex and strategic games found on computers. The enjoyment and the potential of the medium has stuck with me and it has inspired me to launch my own game company Promaginy. It also prompted me to self-publish an eBook called the Evolution of Computer Games. It was a humble attempt to analyze and not just track the lineal development of computer games. You are welcome to freely download the eBook here: Evolution of Computer Games 2nd Edition Evolution of Computer Games 1st Edition (kept for posterity)